Little is known about the daily lives and living conditions of children whose parents are separated or divorced. This is an increasingly important family situation: almost a quarter of a million children in Switzerland do not live with their biological parents.
Now, thanks to a representative study, the research gap has been closed. A report by the Federal Family Affairs Commission (EKFF) shows that the long-standing standard of “Child lives with mother, sees father every two weeks” has been replaced by individual and diverse patterns.
50:50 is rare
It’s true that only a few parents divide their childcare equally: Seven percent of children spend half their time with their mother and half with their father.
But 20 percent of children live with both parents at least a third of the time. Children of 56 percent of respondents supposedly lived very locally (ie with both parents).
However, the study concludes that who cares for the children’s well-being, when and how much, is also not decisive. The age and gender of the children or the financial situation of the parents are not so important. When it comes to the well-being of the ordinary child, only the relationship quality of the parents makes a statistically significant difference.
Mandatory advice
From the children’s perspective, it is extremely important for parents to maintain a constructive exchange. “Very controversial cases should be avoided if possible,” says EKFF Vice-President Jonas Schweighauser (57). Therefore, the Commission proposes a legislative amendment so that counseling or mediation can be ordered. Some cantons are conducting pilot tests. The canton of Basel-Stadt has been sending disagreeing parents to counseling since 2016, with 75 percent of them finally finding mutually acceptable solutions.
“Family law is out of date”
EKFF finds other areas of action. More than a third of parents are uncomfortable with the fact that they can only register their child in one place of residence. The consequences: Disadvantages in terms of tax deductions, maintenance costs or premium reductions.
That’s not the only reason why lawyer Jonas Schweighauser says, “Our family law is out of date.” It’s still status oriented, but today everything is much more fluid. Separated parents can no longer be pigeonholes.
EKFF Vice-President says: “Fathers do not understand whether they take care of their children or not when there is no custody.” The Commission recommends that the term “guardianship” be removed from the law and replaced with a more contemporary “joint caregiving responsibility”.
Responding to societal changes
The lawyer does not see it as anything special that an article in the Civil Code, which was only prepared in 2014, is being revised. As we have seen in the last century, adjustments in civil law are becoming more and more necessary: Between 1907 and 1973, there was practically nothing in civil law, Schweighauser says. There were then four major revisions up to 1989. And now a total of 20 revisions from 1989 to 2022.